


How to Use a Sofa

by torenhoog



Series: A Series of Sofa's [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, Magical Artifacts, Men of Letters Bunker, the bunker needs all the sofas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-09
Updated: 2017-02-09
Packaged: 2018-09-23 03:02:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9638093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/torenhoog/pseuds/torenhoog
Summary: Dean is pining for Cas, Sam thinks Dean is getting old, and there's also a wayward sofa, all set in the bunker.





	

“Sammy, gimme back my car keys!”

“Maybe you should be a bit louder, I’m not sure I can hear you.”

“Come on, I need those keys right now. We’re out of beer and milk and I need pie.” Dean leans against the frame of the doorway to the kitchen. Sam is browsing the internet at the kitchen table. It has been quiet on the supernatural front lately. They spent the last couple of weeks exploring the bunker, watching movies together, reading novels and just be at home. Even Cas seems to be settling in, though at the moment he is visiting Claire at Jody’s. There’s no way in hell that Dean’s current restlessness has any connection to Cas’s absence from the bunker. No way at all.

“I don’t have your keys, I only have the spare set I always use,” Sam replies. “Go check the washing machine, you probably forgot to take them out of your jeans again.”

Dean wants to protest, but to be honest he can’t remember where or when he last saw his car keys. “Gimme yours, I’ll check the laundry room later.”

“OK, just bring me a salad.”

“Yeah sure, you healthy… healtherrr...”

 

* * *

 

“This is weird, I swear…” Dean mutters to himself. He left it on the sofa. Or was it his desk? He was only gone for a minute or so, half an hour at most. Jody called to discuss a potential case she wanted to take on herself. No, the Winchesters were not needed, Jody assured them she could handle it together with Claire and Cas. Which means it takes even longer before Cas… Dean decides to leave that thought unfinished and focus on the missing piece of pie instead. The pie he was very much looking forward to eating for lunch. He deserves pie after all the good work he did for Jody and… Could there be mice crawling inside the bunker walls? Or rats? Dean is fairly certain no ordinary mouse or rat can haul a big piece of pie complete with plate and fork to a tiny hole in the wall. Dean decides his need for pie surpasses his need for solving the mystery of the missing piece, so he goes to the kitchen in search of the rest of the pie. 

 

* * *

 

Dammit, where is his Led Zep t-shirt? Last night Dean put it on the chair by the desk like he always does. Or did he throw his clothes on the sofa this time? Let’s see, jeans on the chair, flannel, and socks on the floor, belt on top of and shoes underneath the sofa. He must have been drunk last night, when he’s sober he doesn’t spread his clothes around like this. Dean checks every corner and closet in his room, to no avail. He goes looking for Sam next, this must be one of Sam’s pranks, he _knows_ that shirt is Dean’s favorite.

“Saaam! Where is my t-shirt? I don’t have time for a prank war!”

“Stop yelling, why would I take your shirt?”

“Maybe because you’re the only person around here, besides me? Wait, do rats steal shirts?”

“Since when _you_ have no time for pranks? We’re not even on a case right now. You must be getting old. Wait, why are you talking about rats? We don’t have rats in here.”

“You don’t eat pie and the only perp I could think of for making it disappear from my room was a rat.”

“Or you’re really getting old and Alzheimer’s is setting in.”

“Ha, ha, very funny.”

“Did you find your car keys yet?”

Dean storms out of the library leaving a grinning Sam behind. There’s still some pie left, he definitely needs pie right now. He’s not old, not even forty. For a guy who didn’t expect to live beyond thirty when he was in his twenties, nearly forty sounds pretty old, but still. His mind might be playing tricks on him though, three Very Important Things gone missing in two days time is beyond Acceptable Coincidence Behaviour. Before he can chew on this thought a bit longer Cas calls in need of answers to case related questions. 

 

* * *

 

When the book goes missing, Dean knows there’s something going on with the sofa in his room.

Jody, Claire, and Cas haven’t yet been able to identify the monster they’re hunting. Dean needs lore books from the bunker library to answer Cas’s questions and since he left his phone on his bed Dean takes a stack of books back to his room. This has nothing to do with wanting to have a conversation with Cas without Sam listening in. Like at all. Dean is skipping from book to book exchanging theories with Cas when the book that probably contains the answer is suddenly missing. Dean is absolutely sure he put it on the sofa, the only clear spot within reaching distance from where he’s sitting on the floor.

“Dean, what’s going on? Why are you using so many abusive words? Is it because of the monster? You know there’s hardly anything that can’t be killed by my blade or Claire’s sword.”

“Sorry Cas, that’s not it, there’s something going on in my room. I have to…”

“Wait, Dean, I would like some confirmation on what we're dealing with. Could you please check one more time?”

“That’s just is, the book I need for that suddenly went poof.”

“What do you mean? Did it go up in smoke? Or a burst of light?”

“No, it just vanished from the sofa. Nothing left.”

“Dean, you know things don’t go from being into non-being without an external force.”

“Yeah, I know, must find out what’s going on just like any other case. Dammit, just wanted to solve yours so you… Now there’s two fuckin’...”

“Please don’t be angry, it’s not your fault. With what you told me in the last hour, Jody and Claire are probably able to find our culprit. Now you can fix your problem.”

Cas ends the call before Dean gets a chance to say goodbye. 

 

* * *

 

To solve a case you need a theory to work on, and a theory needs testing. Dean starts throwing things onto the sofa. First a stale sandwich, which stays even though Dean is hungry. The boring book he is trying to read because you never know if there's anything worthwhile in it stays as well. Same with the keys to one of the cars in de garage, Dean’s dirty socks and a random gold knife. So far his experiments support his theory. For test phase two Dean assumes it’s not unreasonable to use one of Sam’s belongings. For science, you know. 

 

* * *

 

“Sammy, you have to see this.”

“I’m busy, leave me alone.”

“Busy my ass, you’re just too lazy to come to my room.”

“I’m not lazy, I run at least -”

“Yeah yeah whatever, just watch this.”

“Hey, what are you doing with my shirt? I didn’t take yours, so hands -”

“Shut up Sam.” Dean tosses Sam’s orange and brown striped shirt on the sofa. To his disappointment, the shirt lands on the sofa in a crumpled heap. “I was sure it would go poof.”

“Why would it go poof? Why do you want _my_ shirt to go poof? Use your own -”

“My shirt has already gone poof! And I hate this shirt, it makes me hungry for bacon.”

“That’s no reason to -”

“It’s very distracting! You wear it all the time and every time I want to eat bacon. And you know how hard it is to get bacon in a cemetery in the middle of the night. And I can’t eat the shirt.” Dean does his disgusted face.

“Wh… never mind, back to the main question, what are you trying to prove?”

“Well, you remember the missing car keys and t-shirt? I think I know what -”

“I know, old age.”

“Shut up and let me finish. I saw a book disappear from this sofa, just like that into nothing. Or another dimension or whatever. Wherever. I think the sofa is hexed. But the funny thing is -”

“What, even funnier than a magical sofa?”

"The funny thing is, only things I really need go poof. Things that are important to me. So I thought the same would go for something that is important to you. But apparently not.”

“Lucky me.”

“Sam, that shirt is at least a hundred years old.”

“So? That doesn’t give you the right to use it for experimental purposes.”

“Doesn’t matter anyway, phase two failed. Maybe I _am_ getting old…” Dean walks to his desk, takes the photograph of tiny him being hugged by Mary, moves back to the sofa, puts the photo down and to his dismay watches it disappear.

Sam goes “huh” and leaves the room to return after a few minutes. “By the way, that shirt is nothing special, I don’t think I even have a favorite shirt. But these I love,” Sam says while he places a green toy soldier and a book that looks like it’s been read a million times on the sofa. Nothing happens.

Dean stares defiantly at the items still lying on the sofa. “Now it’s getting personal. What have I ever done to you, stupid sofa? I even rescued you from a dark storeroom infested with stuffy old boxes. And rats.”

“I think there’s a similar sofa in another storeroom,” Sam says, “let’s go try that one. Bring something you value.”

“What, why? I lost enough already!”

“Trust me, I have a theory.”

“Pfff I had a fuckin’ theory too but…” Grumbling Dean takes his favorite gun and follows Sam to the other potentially evil sofa. Which doesn’t show any kind of disappearing act, Sam’s book and toy once more remain where Sam puts them down, as does Dean’s gun.

“Yep, like I thought. The sofa in your room has adopted you as its master, Dean. That must be why it only removes your stuff and leaves mine. And I don’t think your stuff is gone forever, I mean why use a sofa to get rid of things that people prefer to keep? Dean, I think it’s some kind of portal!” Sam gets more excited by the second. “I think the sofa transports objects to a hidden space, probably for safe keeping. So we only have to find this space to find your things! There must be a room or a basement we haven’t found yet, or maybe it’s somewhere between the walls, or…"

Dean watches Sam’s back as Sam hurries to the library. Dean feels deflated, not in any kind of research mood anymore. He only wants to sleep, preferably next to… No, he needs a drink. Thank Chuck there’s still some whiskey left.

 

* * *

 

Dean wakes up to the sound of someone knocking on his door. While Dean is in the process of getting really awake and out of bed, Cas enters the room looking flushed. Cas stumbles (ah, that’s where Dean left his shoes last night), falls on the sofa and is gone. Dean’s first thought is “need to jump on the sofa”, which he does almost reflexively. The “need to save Cas” thought accompanies Dean in his fall through something undefinable. His mind provides a “where the fuck am I?” when he lands on his back on a hard surface with a surprised looking Cas looming over him. A Cas with a pinkish rock in one hand and the photo of Mary hugging tiny Dean in the other.

“I have been searching the bunker for this rock for two weeks and four days,” Cas says. “How did it get in here? And do you know where we are?”

Dean looks around and then stands up because that makes it easier to inspect the room. It’s filled with all kinds of objects, including his shirt and keys and the lost book. Oh hey, even the missing piece of pie is here. No rats then. Dean takes a bite. It’s still edible, so he gobbles the rest of the pie while Cas walks around the room.

“No doors. Dean, how did my rock end up in this room?”

“Eh…”

Cas frowns. “I don’t like it when you refuse to answer a simple question.”

“I don’t wanna talk about it, it’s private.”

“You mean it involves your emotions, and you prefer to not share them with me. Isn’t that a bit selfish?” 

Dean blushes and takes a deep breath. OK, he can do this, it’s just talking, right? “Yeah, you got me there. Remember when you had that business to attend to and you wouldn’t let me go with you and you stayed away for five weeks? I missed you, man. I wanted something of yours, something tangible. But I lost it, which I hated by the way. Obviously, the sofa took it.”

“The sofa I tried to take a seat on right before I was transported here?”

“Yeah, that one. The one you never sit on and all of a sudden you do? Where did that come from? What are you doing here anyway? You’re supposed to be working a case in South Dakota.”

“Yesterday during our phone conversation you gave me the information we needed to find the monster. Jody and Claire don’t need my help finishing off the case. Dean, I still don’t understand why the sofa moved me to this room. And how did you get here?”

“I jumped after you.” Dean retreats to Avoidance Mode’s familiar grounds. “Wait, you left Claire and Jody in the middle of a case? Cas, you never leave halfway through a hunt unless there’s an emergency!”

Cas shifts his gaze from Dean to the ceiling. “No exits up there either. How do we get out of this room?”

“Hey, now you’re the one doing the avoiding. Cas, what is it you’re not telling me?”

Cas is gazing at the floor now. “I was worried about you. On the phone, you sounded… I think you wanted my help and imhmszdhydho.”

“What’s that?”

“I said I missed you too."

Dean doesn’t know how to react. Or maybe he does. He takes a step closer to Cas, and another, and a third, and strokes Cas’s right cheek with his left hand. Cas turns his face to Dean and closes the remaining distance between them. To what Cas says next Dean wholeheartedly agrees after thinking about it for a second. “We are both fools for taking so long to acknowledge this.” And then Cas kisses Dean and Dean kisses back and suddenly there’s tongue involved and hands everywhere. 

 

* * *

 

“Guys, what are you doing?” Is that Sam’s voice? “Finally”! 

Why does Sam sound so gleeful? Dean feels light-headed as if his brain didn’t get enough oxygen for a while. It takes some effort to move his lips away from Cas’s. When his gaze meets the eyes of an amused looking Sam, he lets go of Cas entirely. Sam is standing in a doorway that wasn’t there earlier. How much earlier? Dean has no idea how long he and Cas were kissing.

Sam is still talking, “I appreciate that you keep your smooching out of my sight, but one of your rooms would have been fine. You didn’t have to move out to this very remote and very hard to find place on my account.”

When Cas throws his arms around Dean again, Dean lets him. Why not, Sam has seen them being touchy feely already, and besides, outside this room, there’s a whole lot of bunker for Sam to be on his own. “Leave the door open!” Dean shouts when Sam stomps off.  

 

* * *

 

“Wish we’d done this sooner.”

“So do I.”

“Wanna get out of here and find a bed?”

“Yes please, and then I would like to take off all your clothes.”

“Awesome.”

 

* * *

 

Nearly a day later Dean asks Sam, “So how did you find us?”

“Get this, I found a map of the bunker with the hidden room marked on it. Look, it even has instructions on how to open it from the outside. Guess where I found it.”

“In the map drawer in the war room,” Cas suggests.

“No, it was taped to the underside of Dean’s sofa, of all places.”

Dean has to admit that sometimes his little brother is a bit of a genius. “I get why the sofa zapped Cas to this hidden room. But how did I end up there? I never got spirited away when I sat on the sofa before.”

“My guess? When you jumped Cas was in transit so the portal was still open,” Sam replies.

“Or you finally admitted to the sofa how much you need me, therefore it let you pass through,” Cas says. Dean gives him a kiss for this silly but very endearing remark.

Sam sighs. “OK guys, I get that you need to resolve years of accumulated tension, but could you please take it to a more private location?”

“Come on, Cas, we’re going out, have to buy a new sofa. One that doesn’t zap you away every time I push you into it.”

Sam rolls his eyes.

Cas smiles. I need to kiss him again, Dean thinks. 

 

* * *

 


End file.
